A Matter of Time
by Cealyn
Summary: Waking up to find herself surrounded by her best friend's father, a fugitive mass murderer, and her werewolf professor was the last thing Hermione had expected to happen, after getting hit by the Whomping Willow. Finding herself twenty years in the past, she must do everything she can to get home - that is, if it's even possible.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! I know there are a billion time-travelling Hermione stories out there, but I've been wanting to write one for a while. If you have any suggestions on how to make it stand out/different compared to the other ones, let me know. This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction. **

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything! **

_'Harry - we've got to go for help - ' Hermione cried; she was bleeding too; the Willow had cut her across the shoulder.  
'No! That thing's big enough to eat him, we haven't got time -'  
'We're never going to get through without help -'  
Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles.  
_Hermione let out a shriek as the branch crashed into her chest - shattering the Time-Turner hidden beneath her sweater - and sent her stumbling backwards.  
'Harry!' She shouted, as the world began to blur around her. 'Oh no...' she was certain this couldn't be good.

########

'What the bloody hell was she doing there, lying under the Willow like that?' A male voice demanded, sounding rather incredulous.

'Do you guys recognize her? We should get her to Madame Pomfrey.. She doesn't look badly injured or anything, but...' Another voice asked.

'No, we should take her with us though, we have to head there anyways. Sirius?' Hermione snapped her eyes open, _Sirius?_

'Sirius? Sirius Black?' She said shrilly, pushing herself to her feet. The boy who had been bending down next to her eyed her warily. He most certainly did not look like the crazed escapee from Azkaban, far too young at the least. 'G-Get away from me, you _monster_. What have you done with my friends? Where's Ron? Harry! Get away from him, he's dangerous!'

'Uh.. James? Explain?' The boy; Sirius asked, looking at his friend who was just as bewildered as he was. James just shook his head, eyeing the deranged girl.

'Ja - _oh_.' Hermione said simply, looking more carefully at the messy-haired boy. He stood taller, and was more filled out than Harry; his eyes were wrong too. She looked over the three of them, James with his messy hair and glasses, Sirius with his long dark hair and handsome features. Behind the two of them was a sick-looking boy with a scar across his face; he stood hunched over, yet there was an undeniable curiosity and calculating look in his eyes. _Remus?_ She wondered.

'Right. Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to the library.' Hermione said, straightening herself and turning to head to the castle.

'You haven't said who you are, nor how you know who I am,' Sirius said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. In an instant, Hermione had her wand out of her pocket and pressed against his neck.

'Let. Go. Of. Me. Now, Black.' She snarled fiercely. All of her hate and loathing pouring out at once for this man, the man who would grow up and betray Harry's parents, who would ultimately be the cause of all of her best friend's suffering. Her best friend who was now alone, 20-something years in the future. Stunned, Sirius took a step back from her; his self-assurance and confidence diminishing in the face of her rage.

'With all due respect, Miss Hermione, would it not be more prudent for you to go to the headmaster or something? You aren't a student here.'

'Of course I a - No, you're right. Thank you, R- Sir." She turned again, and managed to actually make it a few steps before being stopped again.

'How do you plan on finding his office?' James called, a little too casually. Thoroughly frustrated, and tired at this point, Hermione rounded on the three of them.  
Taking a deep breath and calming herself slightly, she nodded. She didn't know how long she'd be here, and until then, she shouldn't give too much away.  
Heaven only knew how much she'd made a mess of things as it was, knowing their names and saying what she had.

'Very well; show me. Please.' she acquiesced, indicating for them to lead the way. The three marauders, though she didn't know if they were that yet, surrounded her and lead her through the familiar Hogwarts halls. A feeling of homesickness washed through her, as she walked through there. It was silly, really. Being homesick for a place that she was currently in, all the same, it wasn't _her_ Hogwarts. Surrounding her there were only unfamiliar faces - No Ginny, Dean, Neville, Harry or Ron, not even the distant rumblings of Fred and George causing some sort of mischief, or Percy with his puffed out chest, ensuring that _everyone_ was well aware of the fact that he's a prefect.  
No, instead she was surrounded by her werewolf professor, her best friend's dad, and a fugitive mass murderer.

She sighed. There really was never such a thing as a dull day at Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

Grudgingly, the three marauders left Hermione outside the gargoyle Hippogriff, after informing her of the password -_ Licorice Wands_. With not a small amount of trepidation, Hermione climbed up the spiral staircase and, after taking a minute to compose herself, knocked on the headmaster's door.

'Enter,' came a familiar voice from within. Pushing the door open, Hermione found herself in the most wondrous of offices. She'd never before had cause to visit the headmaster, and so she found her eyes drawn to the many oddments, everything from a phoenix (that she knew to be named Fawkes), a pensieve, the sorting hat, to an assortment of things she wouldn't even know what they could possibly be called.

A younger looking Albus Dumbledore watched her from the other side of a mahogany wooden desk, his piercing blue eyes examining over the rims of his half-moon glasses.  
'Good afternoon, Miss -?' He said, after a moment.  
'Granger, Sir. Hermione Granger.'

'Miss Granger, yes. Forgive me for any rudeness, but I'm afraid I have not yet had the pleasure of your acquaintance. Have a seat and tell me why it is that you have come; you are not a Hogwarts student.'

'That's not exactly true, but it's kind of a long story.'

'Miss Granger, I may be rather old, but I have been blessed with a rather extraordinary memory. Many students have passed through these halls, and I think it is safe to say that you are not one of those that have.'

'No, but I'm one of those that will. Professor Dumbledore, sir, I will explain everything... but I think it might be best is Professor McGonagall was here for this as well.' Those piercing blue eyes searching her for a moment, before Dumbledore swept to his feet to the fireplace. Tossing a pinch of Floo powder into it, he called the transfiguration master from her office. A minute later, a younger (but no less dignified) McGonagall emerged from the green flames, looking from Dumbledore to Hermione. Her brows creased marginally, before turning to the headmaster.  
'Yes?'  
'Miss Granger came here to speak with me, and requested that you be present. Am I correct, Minerva, in assuming that you have not seen her before?'

'I don't believe so, no.' She said without hesitation, eying Hermione up and down.

'You haven't, no.. That's why I'm here. If I may, I'd like to start off with a question...', and when neither of them responded, she swallowed again. 'What's the date, professors?'

'The seventh of June.' Dumbledore said, his brow frowning.

'And the year?'

'1974.' Hermione found herself nodding, that would only make sense.

'Right then, well, professor McGonagall, you may want to sit… this is going to take a while,' she said, before pulling the broken Time turner out of her sweater.

'This is a Time Turner, Professor, you gave me one so that I could get to all of my classes. I have a rather full schedule, you see..'

'Yes, Miss Granger. I am well aware of what a time turner is. May I ask how it got to be in such a condition? And I most certainly do not recall ever giving you one, let alone meeting you.'

'Well, that's the problem... You give it to me in September of 1993. I was a bit too close to the Whomping Willow, see. My friend, Ronald Weasley had been dragged through the tunnel there by a massive dog, Harry and I were going to go after him and try to rescue. Though, we argued...' For a couple of minutes, Hermione told the two professors of the day's events, from the time turner breaking, to waking up and meeting the Marauders - and making the mistake of revealing that she recognized them - and to them deciding that she needed to speak to the headmaster.  
After that, the three of them sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes, speculating on her situation.

'Miss Granger, to go back or forward in time is quite difficult and risky, as I'm sure you know. Time-turners, the apex of our knowledge of time manipulation is only really enough to send a witch or wizard back as many as half a day, though it should be noted that anything more than five hours is already an extreme risk. Miss Granger, you're speaking of two decades; I don't know that anything can or should be done.'

'I can't just stay here! Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, sir. I know too much of the future, and messing around with time before I'm even born has to be breaking at least a dozen laws, not to mention that.. that I could cause other people from my time to not be born, or anything else!' Hermione said, trying to sound logical and rational, though her voice came out as a squeak by the end. She looks frantically between the two, and sighed, noticing their forlorn expressions.  
'I'm afraid, Miss Granger that you are stuck here for now, at the least. We will have to look into the matter.' McGonagall said, looking at Hermione with pity shining clearly in her eyes.

'Now, Albus-'

'Yes, she will have to be enrolled in courses. Miss Granger, to which house did you belong?'

'Gryffindor, sir.'

'The courses you were taking?'

'Divination, though I really am not so keen on continuing that, and I think I'll skip on Muggle Studies as well, you see, I'm rather ahead on the topic; Arithmancy, Transfiguration, Defence, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, History, Charms, Astronomy, and Herbology.. I think that's all of them at least.'

'Very well, Miss Granger. I will hang out your schedule to you at breakfast. We can order your books and materials then. Be on your way.'

'What do I tell people? When they ask?' Hermione asked, before turning to leave. She really hadn't the foggiest as to what she'd do about the Marauders, she'd made a fine mess of that situation. Dumbledore considered her for a minute, before nodding to himself.

'Miss Granger, you were home schooled, you are here under the advisory of Professor McGonagall… You outgrew what you could be taught in your home environment.' Hermione nodded, hoping that the story would suffice. Though, she was sure there would still be questions.

'Thank you. Before I go, Professors, I was wondering about whether I might do some research in the library, and if perhaps a letter could be written to Professor Saul Croaker? He works for the ministry, and knows of time magic. I read about him in _Unlocking the Past: A Study of Time_'

'I will send word to Mr. Croaker this afternoon.' Professor Dumbledore said, reassuringly. 'And, as you are a Hogwarts student, I see no reason you would be unable to make use of the library.' He smiled, his eyes twinkling before turning back to the transfiguration professor.

'Oh, and Miss Granger?'

'Yes?'

'Gryffindor's password is _Quid Agis_.'

#

Hermione didn't go straight to the common room, she didn't want to face the Marauder's again so soon. Though, a small part of her whispered that she merely didn't want to see James, who looked so much like his son. She'd left Harry, and Ron.. _I will get back to them, they'll be alright. I just need to stay calm, cool and collected._ Books and cleverness would get her through this.

With that in mind, she grinned. It was not noon, lunch wouldn't be served for another hour. Clearly, it was time for the library.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Thank you guys! I really was *not* expecting any followers/reviews/favourites. Definitely not this soon. I appreciate it. This chapter is mostly just filler, I wanted to establish her meeting and getting to know certain people. This chapter also ended up being a fair bit longer than I expected. Sorry! **

** Suzululu4moe – I fixed one of the things you pointed out. As to the other.. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. ;) It won't be long, I plan on having that in the next chapter. You'll be getting that by Thursday. I'm just editing it now.**

The clock on the mantle showed half past two in the morning, but still she did not sleep; tears and worry had kept her up. Hermione had helped to find and save the Sorcerer's Stone, had uncovered a basilisk at Hogwarts - and promptly had gotten petrified for her efforts. None of it even came close to being attacking by a tree (from which she was still _quite_ sore) and finding herself twenty years in the past.

_Harry is never going to believe this_. She thought. On that note, he'd be insufferable for the next few years, making her recount every minute detail and action his parents took.

With a sigh, Hermione slid out of her four-poster bed. Her bare feet patting quietly on the carpeted floor. She grabbed her borrowed library book and went down the steps to the dimly lit common room. It was empty, of course - every sane person had long since fallen asleep.

'Incendio.' she muttered, pointing her wand at the fire place, flame shot out of her wand and the flickering light of the fire brightened the room significantly. Curling up on one of the armchairs closest to the fire, she began to read.

_Professor Saul Croaker of the Department of Mysteries is most notably known for his application of _The Hour Reversal Charm_ on devices known as 'Time Turners'. _The Hour Reversal Charm_ is a highly unstable form of magic. The dangers have been studied, and numerous examples (_see Section 3.8_) have presented themselves in the last decade._

_The volatility of these items and enchantments upon them are as yet unknown. However, Mr. Croaker notes that when used for more than a transition of twelve (12) hours, the results are unaccountably disastrous. Many witches and wizards have been known to find themselves irreversibly altered by travelling through time, and have landed themselves a permanent residency on the fourth floor of _St. Mungo's_. _

The Hour Propulsion Charm_ is as yet, with the writing of this lexicon, non-existent. Current theories note the impossibility of this spell. The Ministry of Magic in Britain has strict regulations in place regarding the experimentation and use of time-related magics. _

#

'She's just showing up everywhere.'

'Clearly, James, she's just following me. First the tree, and now here. Who could blame her? After all, did you see the passion in her eyes when she first saw me?'

'Git, the only passion there was hate.'

'Ahh, but you see my friend, love is but a step away from hate. The emotion and passion is real!'

'We still don't know who she is.' Remus said, stepping in as the voice of reason.

For the second time in as many days, Hermione found herself waking up to the sight of Sirius, Remus, and James. This time, she noted, a fourth, small sandy-haired boy was with them.

'I already told you, my name is Hermione, and obviously I'm a Gryffindor. It's just been my unfortunate luck to have been found by you guys.' Hermione said, icily. She wasn't entirely sure as to why she was being so rude to them, but at that exact moment she found that she didn't entirely care. 'Now if you don't mind, I'll be leaving now. I'm starving.' With that, she collected her book that had fallen off the seat, and carried it up to her dorm. Changing into what was unfortunately her only pair of clothes, she made her way back down to the common room. It was just her luck that the boys had decided to wait for her.

'As we're the ones who found you, it only seems reasonable that we show you how to get to where you need to go.' James explained with a glint in his eye. She was about to, incredulously, insist that she knew exactly how to get to the Great Hall, thank you very much, but some of her better judgement came through, and she nodded. After all, how would a new student know how to get there?

Surprisingly enough, they didn't pepper her with questions immediately. Only half listening to what they were saying, as they told her about Hogwarts, she found herself becoming slightly intrigued by the mismatched group.  
'You'll want to watch out for the stairs, the m-'  
'Yes, I know. I saw that last night, and I read about it in _Hogwarts: a History._' She said, cutting of Sirius. 'Tell me about yourselves though, I mean, I've heard of you from Professor McGonagall in her letters to me, but I'm afraid her perspective is all rather skewed.'  
'Professor McGonagall's letters?' Asked James, true curiosity in his voice.  
'Oh yes, you see, I'm her... her ward, I suppose would be the word for it. I didn't find out about being a witch until last year, so I was home schooled. I wasn't supposed to catch up with all my studies until this summer. I've always been a bit ambitious with my studies though.' She watched them out of the corner of her eyes, as the made their way down to the first floor. The small boy, whom she had yet to hear talk, seemed to accept it. Remus and James did as well, though James's brow furrowed a bit. Sirius just watched her.  
'In the last few months, she's just been telling me what she thought I'd need to know for when I was ready to attend here. Of course, I'm only presuming it was the four of you.. She mentioned four Gryffindor's with a penchant for trouble.'  
'And I do believe, Miss Granger, that I suggested keeping away from those four boys. I suspect they'll cause you much trouble.'  
'Us? We'd never!'

They were entering the Great Hall now, and Professor McGonagall had come up to them from behind.

'See that you don't. I do not want Miss Granger's first impression of our school to be one from you. It is always you marauding boys whenever there's trouble.' She eyed them sternly, though the small smile on the old witches' face belied her words. 'Now, Miss Granger, here is your schedule. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. I'm sure the prefects, or perhaps Miss Evans will be able to help you out, if you can't find me. Now, enjoy your weekend.' She gave one last smile, before eying the boys and walked down the Gryffindor table to talk to a few other students. James, taking the lead - as he seemed to always do - lead the five of them to a section along the table, where they began to pick at breakfast.

'Right, well, I'm James Potter.' He said, introducing himself between bites of toast.  
'Sirius Black.'  
'I'm Remus. Remus Lupin.' Remus said, his voice sounding rather small as he sat with his shoulders hunched and he looked only at his food.  
'P-Peter. Peter Pettigrew.' The small sandy-haired boy said. Hermione felt her heart clench. The poor boy, it would be less than 10 years from now when he'd be murdered by one of his friends. She almost wanted to hug the diminutive boy. Remus too, looking at him. He clearly was self conscious about his condition. That hunch in his shoulders would still be with him for decades to come, at the very least. She smiled at him, she did quite like Professor Lupin.  
'Charmed. I'm Hermione Granger, as you already know. I'm afraid I don't know anyone, would you be able to tell me about anyone? Or more about yourselves perhaps?'

It seemed that the perfect way to make sure that they didn't ask questions about her, was to ask them about themselves. At the invitation, they - mainly Sirius and James - began pointing out people, and snickering - telling about pranks or encounters they had had with them. She listened, mostly to find out the names of people, but also, it told her what to watch out for. It was bad enough having to deal with the Weasley twins, and there were just two of them. With this group, there were four.

'And this, the most beautiful of ladies in all of Gryffindor, is Miss Lily Evans.' James said eventually, grandiose filling his voice as Lily sat down beside Hermione. 'To what do we owe this pleasure? You've never before deigned to sit with us.'  
'Oh sod off, you great toe-rag. I'm making sure Hermione doesn't get too caught up under your influence. Merlin knows that's the last thing she needs.' The flaming red head rolled her eyes and began eating her own breakfast. 'Sorry Hermione, don't mind them. I was wondering if you'd like to go to the library again? Exams are in a few weeks, and I imagine that you'd like to get caught up with studying..' She smiled.  
'Evans, she's not goi-'  
'I'd love to! I'll meet you there.'

She took the steps two at a time, skipping over the trick stair, and half-running down the third floor corridor to the library. Stopping for a moment outside the double doors she breathed. No matter where in time she was, or how many people she might be missing, the library at Hogwarts was a second home to her. Nothing could change that.

Opening the door, the smell of thousands of old books greeted her like a warm hug on a cool day. The panic that had been sitting just below the surface abated some, leaving her with determination to set things right. She passed sections on invisibility, legal issues, and dragons; paused slightly at the reference section, then continued on to a small half-shelf labeled 'New and Experimental Magics'. Hermione knew she was here to catch up on her studies with Lily, but, she reasoned it couldn't hurt to take a few minutes to browse. She'd have to ask Madam Pince if there were any other books specifically relating to time travel, but as it was, she found a small book called _Tinkering with Time_ by Elegar Bluthwaster.

Carrying the dust-laden book, Hermione brought it over to the study area, her favourite table was occupied by a greasy-hair boy and a girl with flaming red hair who ought to have been a Weasley; Lily. She smiled, and moved to join them.

'Sorry, I got caught up a bit looking at the books.' Hermione said, sheepishly.  
'It happens to me all the time. Have a seat. Sev, this is Hermione Granger; she's the new student.'  
The greasy-haired boy looked up at Hermione, with a small smile that barely touched his sallow cheeks. 'Hi,' he said, before turning back to his essay. Lily only rolled her eyes and shook her head.  
'Hermione, this is Severus. He's in Slytherin.' Hermione felt her eyes widening, _Severus Snape? Lily Evans was friends with Snape?_ 'He's my best friend.' The red head said defensively, misreading the look on Hermione's face.

'Pleasure to meet you, Severus.' _As social as ever, I see._  
'Shall we study, Hermione?'  
'Yes. Let's.'

It was a half hour into their study period that Hermione once again looked up to find the three boys surrounding them. Severus and Lily were helping her with potions; the curriculum had changed the most in that subject over the twenty years, and it had hardly been her best subject.  
'Sirius, Peter… You guys see what I see, right?' James said, Remus was notably absent.  
'I think I do, James.'  
'We can't let Snivellus go around with all the Gryffindor ladies. It'll go to his overlarge nose.'  
'I was thinking the same thing, James. Perhaps we ought to give him a reminder?'


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I meant to have this posted a couple of days ago, but my exams kept me a bit too preoccupied.**

**#**

James Potter was a Slytherin.

The thought of it came unbidden to Hermione as she looked at her messy-haired boy. It was ridiculous of course, she knew he was actually in Gryffindor. Still, as she eyed him and his two friends (Peter and Sirius; Remus was nowhere to be seen), it was with disturbing ease that she was able to replace them with Malfoy and his cronies.

Her two companions, Lily and Severus looked far from surprised at the intrusion - only anger and annoyance were present on their faces, as Lily's eyes blazed dangerously.

'What,' she snarled. 'Do you think you're doing, Potter?' James just flashed her an easy grin.

'Lils, we just want to make sure that Snivellus here knows his place, he's a greasy Slytherin. Granger here shouldn't get the wrong impression.'

Outrage bubbled up in Hermione as she glared at James, only the fact that they were in the library kept her from raising her voice - or her wand. How dare he?

'James Potter, leave us alone, you foul git.' She hissed. 'Just because you need lapdogs for some sort of human interaction doesn't mean that you need to be jealous of those who manage to get friends just by merit of being a decent human being.' Hermione glared at the three of them, daring them to respond. Peter was quiet as usual, and wilted under the weight of her gaze. Sirius, she found, looked rather angry. What else was one to expect from a future mass murderer?

'Black.. Potter.. you dirty toe-rags. For Merlin's sake, just leave us alone.' Lily said, anger flaring in her tired voice.

'Dirty toe rags? You don't mean that! You can hardly call me dirty while you're sitting next to slimeball Snivellus.'

'Leave. Now.'

Hermione watched, as both James and Lily descended into a quiet staring match. On the other side of Lily, Snape just looked furious, though some of his - what Hermione was beginning to realize, usual, wariness was there, as his chin-length hair covered his face.

Her attention was drawn back to the stare-down, when Lily - rather loudly, and incredulously, exclaimed, 'WHAT?'

'I said, Lils, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?' He looked at her, hopeful. 'You know, next weekend?'

'W- No! I do not. I'd rather go with the giant squid, at least _it_ might have a better personality.'

Looking across the study area, Hermione noticed a rather angry looking Madam Pince. Opening her mouth to say something, Hermione caught Snape's eye. He shook his head and glanced quickly over to the library's exit. Taking his hint, she rolled up her parchment and collected her books. Feeling Sirius's eyes on her, she and Snape left the library, the sound of Lily and James's argument following them as they left. _How on Earth did those two end up falling in love and getting married?_ It truly astounded it.

'I don't need you to defend me.' Snape said after they'd left the library and walked down the hall for a bit. They had been silent up until then.

'I-'

'I don't need you to defend me,' he said again, 'but I appreciate it. Thank you.'

'Of course.'

'Potter and his gang strut around, arrogant as if they own this place. Being friends with Lily -' he cut himself off and restarted, 'being a male and friends with Lily is just asking to be hexed.'

'What's this, Snivellus? You're asking to be hexed?' With a flash of light, Severus was hanging upside down by his ankle. Hermione pulled out her wand intending to get her friend down, but hesitated. Whatever that spell was, it was most definitely _not_ in _The Standard Book of Spells_ 1-3.

'_Aqua Eructo,'_ he said, with a swish of his wand. A short jet of clear water shot toward Severus, soaking him. 'A gift, as you seem incompetent of showering.' Sirius said, his voice taunting Snape. For a moment, Hermione thought that he had forgotten her.

'Sirius Black.. I demand you let him down this instant.' She said, drawing his attention back to her.

'Cheer up Granger, it's just a bit of fun.' Sirius said, smiling at her. She supposed it was supposed to be reassuring, though she found the entire thing to be quite repulsive.

'A bit of fun? It's just.. just barbaric! I can't believe that I even found you remotely interesting earlier.' The way that he was watching her, with his brow scrunched up, it seemed almost as if he really couldn't understand what was so.. wrong about this. Looking at the dangling boy - Sev's face had gone red.

Her discussion, if it could be called such, with Sirius had done nothing to help his predicament.

'SIRIUS BLACK. YOU LET HIM GO. NOW.' Lily came storming out of the library, a sulky James Potter and Peter Pettigrew behind her. Eying James, who nodded surreptitiously behind Lily's back, Sirius muttered the counter curse and Snape fell onto a heap on the ground.

'Go.' Lily snapped, and with a backward glance the trio left Lily, Snape and Hermione in the hall.

'Granger said she found me interesting.' She heard Sirius tell his friends as they walked off. Heat rose to her cheeks as she spun to look at Lily and Snape.

'I'm sorry,' Hermione said after a moment, interrupting the pair's hushed conversation. 'I really didn't know how to help. It's not a spell I've read about anywhere..'

Severus nodded, glaring back the way the other boys had left. 'It's fine. Potter, Black and their gang have a habit of being where they're not wanted. This is nothing.'

Pointing her wand at Snape, who was still drenched from Sirius's attack, '_Ventus._' She said, and dried off his robes. Lily shot her a look of gratitude, and turned back to her friend, resuming their conversation.

Feeling unsure, but after watching the two friends talk with their heads close for a minute, Hermione began to feel as though she were intruding.

'I'll see you guys around.' She muttered, and walked down the stone hall in the opposite direction the boys had gone. If nothing else, her time in this era had taught her one thing: she knew why Professor Snape had such a grudge against Harry. Wanting nothing more than to spend hours studying. figuring out how to get back home, but feeling restless all the same, Hermione wandered the grounds. It was probably best that she hadn't returned to the library, not until Madam Pince had calmed down a bit. Eventually, she sat in the shade under a tree and pulled out the small book she had found in the library.

Hours later, with the sun sitting low over the lake, the little waves glittering prismatically as the giant squid splashed around near surface of the water, Hermione found herself feeling much calmer than she had been earlier. The little book documented trials that had been made in time magic, as well as the theory behind it. It was incredibly complex, well beyond NEWT levels, and certainly beyond OWLs. Still, she figured, there was a reason she was called the brightest witch of her age, _and_ she had managed to brew polyjuice potion last year. It was just another challenge. A challenge she would not only face, it was a challenge she would beat.

But how long would it take?


End file.
